What is Truth?
by Dire-Consequences
Summary: Everything has changed for the Happy Tree Friends. The Tiger General has taken over and Toothy starts to have doubts about Splendid, who left for a reason he does not explain five years before, ever coming back like he promised... Contains TxS! R&R please
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: My first story. It's an angst/romance/friendship thing. **

**WARNING! CONTAINS YAOI! DON'T LIKE, DON'T READ!**

**A few chapters will have a poem in them, each stanza at a part that fits it best. ALL poems are written by me SPECIFICALLY for this story. Do NOT steal MY poems.**

**HTF and all related characters-ALL characters in here- belong to Mondo Media**

**Plot and the one year=ten HTF years belong to me. So enjoy, hopefully.**

* * *

_Years have gone by without a single word from you..._

_I could not help but wonder if what you said was true_

_And, my love, I'm sorry to say-so sorry- but tonight_

_Our single star, our single star is not lit, is not bright_

He had waited for years for him to return, but no, he hadn't even heard from his dear friend. Could his friend possibly have lied to him, even if only to spare his feelings? Surely not!

But maybe... just maybe... he did...

He had never asked for him to return his love, he had simply told him the truth. They had been best friends, but he himself had fallen for the older boy...

He had never asked to be gay.

None of his friends resented him for it- they had known before he himself had known, and yet...

He had left to go find something he refused to tell anyone about...

He had left them there, and now everything was going wrong.

Fifty years in his own town and no one had aged a bit... and only five in the world outside.

_So many years without you have left my soul restless_

_And I can still remember with one look I was breathless_

_Now and again I find myself wishing, finding myself about to cry_

_And I think, how I think that it was all just a trick, a lie_

* * *

Toothy awoke the next day. He stood up and stretched. He jumped up and went over to the calendar. It was the first day of a new year... the fiftieth year without the one he loved.

Toothy wondered to himself whether the others knew or not that the time outside of the Happy Tree Forest went slower than their own time. One year out there equaled ten in Happy Tree Forest and Town.

Fifty years... how time was so cruel, Toothy didn't know. It had been fifty years and no one inside the forest or town had grown even a day older.

_But Splendid, _Toothy thought to himself suddenly, _has grown up five years now. _He sighed. If Splendid hadn't returned by now, Toothy believed he never would.

Toothy sat down at his table and poured himself some cereal. He ate quickly and then went outside.

He met up with his friends in the park.

"Heya, Cuddles!"

_How things were before you left, everything was perfect_

_But now you're gone, and living isn't even worth it_

_But I know, no matter how I try, how I try..._

_I will love no one else, I will always cry_

"Hey, Toothy," Cuddles greeted. The smile he gave him was forced and shallow. No one could ever really smile for real anymore.

Forty-five years ago- four and a half Splendid's time- Happy Tree Town was taken over by the Tiger Army. Flippy was a permanent prisoner, and Flaky was in a mental asylum now. She had loved Flippy dearly and could not accept she would never see him again in her eternal life.

Giggles held Cuddles' paw, afraid all the time now.

For the first time in their lives, the Happy Tree Friends were ruled over by a king and had to pay taxes- very high taxes.

Their 'king' was the Tiger General.

_Do you realize what you have done, how everything is wrong_

_And that you have been gone, been missing, for far too long_

_And now, everything is sad, I see myself from another place_

_And I wonder, I wonder to myself; is this my true face?_

* * *

Toothy sat in the treehouse, hiding from the police. They were searching for him, and he didn't even know why.

Actually, he did know. The Tiger General was angry and searching for prisoners to torture or execute, and he was perfect for it. It was no secret he was homosexual- definitely no secret- and the Tiger General didn't really like that.

Toothy knew the General wished that he would just die permanently, but that was impossible as long as they were in Happy Tree Forest, and the Tiger General didn't dare risk leaving the boundary.

_This horrible pain, this emptiness you made me feel_

_I can't help but wonder, am I or am I not real_

_And yet I still believe you will come back..._

_A belief I slightly wished my heart would lack_

Toothy heard a noise and quickly hid under a beanbag chair. He was terrified, utterly petrified.

The treehouse door flew open and a tiger soldier peeked in and looked around.

_Everything around me feels dangerous now_

_Everybody is a stranger, I don't know how_

_I can go on living like this, living behind my fears_

_And now there's only room for sadness and tears_

Toothy listened to the door to slam closed. He tried his best not to shiver. Her heard voices from below him.... _right _below him. He peeked out from under the beanbag and saw that the treehouse was deserted... but they could return at any second...

He decided to stay under there all night. He'd rather sufficate than be tortured to death.

_And I lie, I lie, I lie and lie..._

_No matter what, I always cry..._

_And I just need to say..._

_I love you still today_

"I love you still..."

--

**A/N: Kinda sad, yes... Will Splendid come back? Well, I sure as hell hope so! Next chapter coming soon. Sorry chapter is so chort, I'll try to make them longer next time.**


	2. Home

**A/N: Yay second chapter now!**

**Disclaimer: Me no own HTF!**

**No poem in this chapter, sorry =)**

* * *

Splendid had finally found what he was looking for after five years. He held it in his hands, looking at it.

It was one of the idols.

He had felt a disturbance in Happy Tree Town and had become afraid that they were all in danger. He had left, not explaining what he was looking for because he hadn't know then what it was he was looking for, but the moment he saw it, he knew.

The sudden deaths in the towns outside of Happy Tree Forest could now be explained. Someone had passed through Happy Tree Town and stolen one of the idols.

Splendid sighed. Now he could finally return to Happy Tree Town, to his friends.... and to Toothy.

Splendid wanted to get home to where it was safe from permanent death. Splendid had learned he had a lot more weaknesses outside of Happy Tree Town, and worst of all, he _grew older._

He didn't particularly like that because that meant his friends would be even younger than him than before! Worst of all, that meant _Toothy _was a lot younger than him, more so than before.

Splendid couldn't wait for the nightmare to end.

* * *

He finally entered the forest a whole month after finding the cursed idol. He had dodged death more than once on his way back, but he immediately knew something was wrong upon entering the forest. When he was inside the barrier, he placed the idol in a hidden place simply to keep others from finding it. It would end up in the town anyway.

He quickly flew as fast as he could and arrived in the town. He stopped as soon as he came in, gaping at what he saw.

The usually-lush green grass was now a dull, dead gray. The trees were either completely bare or had dull brown leaves, and the dirt roads were paved over with cement. There were tiger soldiers walking in the street, and sometimes they would hit a random passerby with their gun, or even shoot someone. No one was laughing or playing.

No one was even smiling.

Splendid decided he needed to find Toothy right then to let him know he has returned and to find out what was going on.

* * *

He found Toothy and his friends sitting under a big oak in the park. He stopped right in front of them, startling them all. Then, all of a sudden, two of them seemed to shout "get down" and tackled him to the ground.

They pulled him over to the tree, and Splendid was in such a state of confusion.

"What's going on here?" he demanded, pulling his arms away from Cuddles and Handy. "Why did you two tackle me?"

"Splendid! Not so loud! _They _don't like it," Toothy said, casting a wary glance at one of the passing by soldiers.

"Who're they?"

"The so-called "king's" soldiers," Cuddles replied. Suddenly, one of the soldiers started coming towards them. "Scatter!"

All of the tree friends began to run off, but Splendid just stood there, confused. King? Since when?

Toothy quickly grabbed and tugged on his arm. "C'mon, Splendid, we gotta get out of here."

Then Toothy had dashed off. Splendid was confused, but he followed anyway.

Upon reaching Toothy's house, Splendid was pulled inside by the frightened beaver.

"Toothy, what's going on here?" Splendid demanded as Toothy peeked out the blinds. Toothy looked at him, the sheer terror evident in his eyes. "Toothy, what happened after I left?"

"The Tiger General took over," Toothy replied sadly, looking out the window fearfully again.

"What? But I was onlt gone for five years! How could that happen in five years?"

Toothy looked at him and shook his head. "Five years out _there, _but _fifty _years here... and a lot could happen in just fifty years, Splendid."

Toothy then went ove to the door and turned at least six locks.

"I really don't know why we ran.. after all, this is a dream..."

"What do you mean, Toothy?" Splendid asked, confused. "What do you mean this is a dream?"

"You're here now... so it _must _be a dream... after all, everyone knows you're not _really _coming back," Toothy stated sadly, staring out the window.

Splendid didn't like how Toothy was acting. Toothy hadn't even smiled once. He grabbed Toothy's shoulder and turned him around.

"Toothy, this is _not _a dream. I found what was missing and brought it back, and I've _come _back, and I'm not leaving again. When you wake up in the morning, I'll still be here, and a hundred years from now, I'll still be here. Toothy, tell me, does this _feel _like a dream to you?"

Toothy watched him sadly. After a few moments, he shook his head, then said, "But if it isn't a dream... why did you take so long to come back?"

Splendid blinked a couple of times. Did Toothy still think it was all a dream?

"It took so long because I couldn't find it, and I didn't want to come back without it. It would throw the whole balance off," Splendid tried to explain. "I didn't want to be gone for so many years, Toothy."

"But you were gone too long!" Toothy exclaimed, looking up at him. Splendid couldn't stand seeing the young beaver so upset and distraught. He also hated when Toothy cried, and he could already see the tears forming in his eyes.

Splendid sighed slightly. "I'm really sorry, Toothy. I hadn't realized I would be so long..."

Suddenly there was a banging on the door. Toothy jumped and turned around, facing the door.

"Open up, beaver!"

"Are they...?"

Toothy nodded, grabbed Splendid's arm, and pulled him upstairs.

Splendid willingly went along, but he didn't understand any of it.

"Toothy, what's going on?"

Toothy shook his head and said, "Splendid, you gotta hide... At least for tonight."

"Why?"

Toothy looked at him with fearful eyes. "They'll take you prisoner, like they did Flippy... if they find you here."

"What do you mean?" Splendid asked, confused.

"They take prisoner those who have a possible chance of overthrowing the Tiger General... which is why we told you not to talk so loud... and told you to get down when you appeared. If they had spotted you flying, they'd have taken you away, like they did Flippy and Splendont."

"Splendont... Captured?" Splendid was honestly surprised by this. His counterpart had so far escaped everything... but the tigers were able to capture and take him prisoner. "Toothy, I don't under-"

Just then, there was a crash from downstairs. Toothy suddenly shoved Splendid into the closet and closed the door. Splendid was really surprised, which was the only reason Toothy had been able to push him into the closet.

"I'm sorry, Splendid," Splendid heard Toothy say quietly from outside the closet. "But I'll be back tomorrow, or the day after... just stay here, I promise I'll be back! I'm not letting them take you away from me, not when I just got you back!"

Splendid listened to footsteps across the room, then blankets moving.

_"He's pretending to be asleep," _Splendid realized suddenly. He wanted to help Toothy, but he knew Toothy would not want him to do that. He flew up to the top of the closet, hiding behind some of Toothy's possessions.

He listened to the tigers laugh at Toothy. He heard them grab Toothy and drag him off.

Splendid had never felt so useless in his life.

Splendid listened until he heard the door slam closed behind the tiger soldiers. He then carefully opened the door and looked around.

"What happened to Happy Tree Town?"

____

**It's kind of rushed, sorry, but at least I've got it finished!**

**So Splendid gets to see the horrors of the new Happy Tree Town... but will he just sit back and let them take over??**


End file.
